This stage had it all. An early departure in the dark, small villages, terraced vineyards, Roman bridges, a stiff climb, a medieval town, sweet cold fonts and most importantly some lovely trails...finally!!
Early morning on Caminho is quiet and the most special time of my day.
When the ground fog hugs the....ground?
And the sheep come out to play.
Finally a day that all just sort of fell together beautifully.
Small country villages lined with vines all the way along the road.
Everything just seemed put there for us to enjoy today...
Even the geese were on parade.
The grape vines showed themselves in many ways today.
And a bridge...there have been many these past 6 weeks. Always nice to cross.
Then the river flowing past the medieval town of Ponte De Lima.
And it's jewel...yup another bridge.
It's actually fairly long.
A well deserved coffee stop after 3 hours on the trail this morning.
A close up! Yup, lots of suffering going on here:)
Still can't get very far away from reminders of the financial world...guess he's on vacation?!
Then over the bridge we went while Neil and Sarah stayed to wander town. We've seen quite a few of these towns and with the distance and heat it was important to move Annemarie along.
Remember all the fires we heard about and saw on the Invierno? While the evidence is everywhere.
A few flowers.
Some nice streams as we began to climb ....
through some lovely pines.
The terraced vineyards as we climbed.
We arrived in this village expecting to have some food and replenish our water, only to find the cafe closed at lunch time! Who does that? There were 7 of us waiting! Apparently we were told the operator went home for lunch. Something new and puzzling every day!?
So we walked on in search of a font. This ain't it, but I liked the reflections.
But this is. Some very fresh, cold, sweet water. Saved our bacon! 
We dunked our heads, soaked shirts and filled up our water systems.
The birds were keeping an eye on things.
I had a chat with an old fellow who was preparing his primaries for the first run from the grape pressing. I'm missing it at home again this year. Fall Caminos do get in the way of my wine making! Not sure what the tire was all about? A family secret?
And then we climbed for a while. Not too bad, and very pretty. Collecting sap from the pine trees.
Hot work on the way up...
but loads of fun on the way down. We didn't need to hurry as we'd booked a couple of beds in a private albergue. We were told last night by a couple from Puerto Rico who are walking this route for the second time this year that many are booking ahead. So many peregrinos on this route after Porto and in some places hard to get a bed. A young German girl told us that she walked 40 kms to get a bed last night. She was sitting on the trail tending her new blisters. It will get even busier in a couple of days from Tui. We are considering booking ahead. There was definitely a race for the beds today and Neil and Sarah raced off to beat a flood of peregrinos at the top of the climb. They were fortunately successful, but we don't think we want to have to worry from here on. A few nights we will need to see what's available as we walk in, and that's ok. Stayed in a great albergue last night that I'd read about before leaving home. Will post on that experience at another time.
We stopped at the top to soak ourselves again...best feeling ever!
Still alive and kicking...shaved now and looking a tad cleaner.
Annemarie did great today. Long hot day. Not her favourite, but she hung in there. Shorter day tomorrow and we've booked ahead as the accommodations are so cheap. Tonight a private room with a shared bathroom is only €12 each! Our host will drive us into town to his restaurant tonight as we are a little way out. The Dutch and French are here as well. Beers are already on the table! We will connect with N&S for breakfast in the morning.
Bom Caminho!
